MALACANANG, MANILA (07 March 2022) — The Philippine government continues to develop and implement innovative strategies to further increase the nation’s vaccination output as some parts of the country transition to the new normal.

This, according to National Task Force Against COVID-19 chief implementer and vaccine czar Secretary Carlito G. Galvez, Jr. who noted the vaccination throughput across the country decreased when Metro Manila and 38 other areas were placed under Alert Level 1 this month.

“With the declaration of Alert Level 1, we have been experiencing a saturation point in our vaccination centers with only the pediatric sector that dominates our vaccination sites,” Galvez said during President Rodrigo Roa Duterte’s Talk to the People public address on Monday,

“So iyong ating mga vaccination site po, talagang karamihan po bakante po. So we will be needing other strategies to gather more vaccinees,” he added.

Among these strategies is the “Jabs in Jobsite” program where vaccination teams visit workplaces to encourage employees to get their primary and booster doses.

This program kicked off on Tuesday at the Teleperformance office in Makati City, where 85% of the employees are fully vaccinated.

“Napakalaki po ng ambag ng BPO industry sa ekonomiya ng ating bansa. kaya naman ganoon din kalaki ang pagpupursigi ng pamahalaan para ang lahat ng empleyado ng industriyang ito ay mabigyan ng booster shot. Malaking tulong ito para makaiwas tayo sa severe cases, pagkaospital o pagkamatay,” Galvez said.

Teleperformance, meanwhile, thanked the government and emphasized the value of providing an extra layer of protection to their employees against COVID-19.

“This is so important for companies like Teleperformance because we have 57,000 employees in the Philippines and to get vaccines straight to the workplace is a great opportunity for us to keep everybody safe, and at the same time, the government will be able to provide vital service,” said Teleperformance Senior Vice President for Human Capital Resource Management Jeffrey Johnson.

National Vaccination Days

Another strategy to ramp up the vaccination output across the country is through the conduct of the fourth leg of National Vaccination Days from March 10 to 12.

NVD 4 aims to vaccinate at least 1.8 million individuals composed of those aged 12 and older.

“Hihikayatin nating bumalik ang mga dapat maka-receive ng second dose dahil karamihan po sa mga second dosers natin ay hindi po nakabalik. At ang mga remaining senior citizens and 12 to 17 years old and above ay kailangan na po nating makuha po,” Galvez said.

“Ito po ay gaganapin po natin sa 16 regions and also the BARMM region, and it will be simultaneously undertaken nationwide,” he added.

Aside from these efforts, the government continues to strengthen its partnership with pharmacies and private clinics to increase the administration of booster shots.

Based on the latest data, the government has only administered 10,616,590 booster shots, or 14.71% of the 72.16 million target this year.

Galvez said the government will also continue to implement more aggressive house-to-house vaccinations as well as the provision of incentives for those availing of the booster shots.

The vaccine czar also underscored the importance of vaccinating teachers, students and school personnel in preparation for the resumption of face-to-face classes.

“We will also ask DepEd and CHED to continue their aggressive vaccination through the Vax To School program. Ito po ay nakita po natin na talagang nire-recommend po ni Secretary Karl Chua na talagang magkaroon na po tayo ng [resumption of face-to-face classes],” Galvez said.

As of March 7, the Philippines has administered a total of 137,085,697 COVID-19 vaccine doses. Of this number, 63,793,957 Filipinos are now fully vaccinated. ###